I Can't Complain (but sometimes I still do)

What to do about Sibling Rivalry

2008-11-14T00:38:00.000-08:00

In the upcoming month, Kid#3, a boy, is going to pop out of The Wife's womb and bless us with sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and another mouth to feed.

But what has kept me awake this night is the thought that Kid#2, my first son, who can't even form a complete sentence yet, will soon have a baby brother ... hence my seldom participation in my own blog the past 2 years. In fact, my two sons will have the exact difference in age that me and my older brother have, namely 1 and 3/4 years apart. (It's eerie how that worked out, especially since each of our 3 kids, girl, boy, boy, have been unplanned and completely random).

The problem with all of this is that my older brother and I fought since my earliest memories. Supposedly he really took good care of me when I was a toddler and we were watching Saturday morning cartoons together, but I don't have the faintest recollection of that. All I remember is that I wanted to beat my older brother at E V E R Y T H I N G. Grades, sports, popularity, money, college choice ... you name it.

Coincidentally, our father also had a bad relationship with his older brother, and he always wanted better for my brother and I. Nice try, Dad. It certainly didn't work out that way.

So how do I keep the same thing from happening with my two sons?

I thought about calling my brother up and asking him what went wrong, but I wouldn't exactly be endearing myself to him by waking him up after midnight. Not that I've made a habit of endearing myself to him my whole life. And vice versa.

Ticket Email

2007-07-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here is the email that I received regarding delivery of my season tickets:

You are receiving a shipment from:
USC Ticket Office
That requires a delivery signature. Your shipment is addressed to:

USCsuperFan
11 National Championship Way
Troy, CA

For your convenience, to have your package left at your doorstep or with a next door neighbor 1) Print out email 2) Sign and date where indicated 3) Provide neighbors address 4) Tape to your front door. No phone call or other communication is needed.

I authorize my shipment to be left:______________________________Date_________
Neighbor's Address ______________________

If you will not be at this address and would like your shipment routed to another location please respond to this e-mail with the full delivery address (including phone number).

I Just Got My Season Tickets!

2007-07-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

To everybody who hasn't received their's, all I can say is:

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

(I wanted to go with "Nana Nana Nana" but I wasn't sure how to write that old schoolyard taunt, and my kids' Mexican Grandmother is "Nana" so that made it uncomfortable to me)

Actually, I lied. I only got the email. That means at some point in the next few days I have to show up at my house, and pretend/be forced to spend time with the family in order to be present when the delivery guy takes his sweet ass time showing up.

Ok, I lied again. I love my family and spend as much time with them as I can possible stand to. Even if I make up elaborate excuses just to get away. The more I think about it, the more I'm jonesing to watch "The Great Escape" again.

Wow, Has Time Jost Flown By

2007-07-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

My wife and I just had our second child, My Boy!, in March. Blog, I'm so sorry I put family first and abandoned you these many months. I won't let it happen again.

My Boy! was born 1 1/2 weeks early, weighed 7 lbs 7 oz, and was 21 inches long. He's now 4 months old and completely off the growth chart for height. Looks like my tall genes have won out over The Wife's short ones.

Most guys project their sons to be a Middle Linebacker when they grow up. I think My Boy! projects as a 5 Star hard-hitting Safety in USC's 2025 Recruiting Class. Of course, this will be Pete Carroll' s best recruiting class ever. And yes, he will be jacked about it.

Breathe Wrong and a Shooting Foul will be Called

2007-02-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

Ucla beat USC last night 70-65 in Men's Basketball last night, largely thanks to a discrepancy in free throw shooting in the amount of 31-5. What this means is that the game officials determined that a USC player was fouled in the act of shooting just twice in a span of 40 minutes of basketball.

Twice.

Two.

2.

How this happened, I have no idea. USC attempted 52 field goals in the game, and had 13 turnovers that may or may not have been the result of non-calls. That's roughly 65 times down the court, and only twice did a shooting foul call go USC's way. It would be interesting to find out how the Pac10 Office of Officiating could explain this. Compounding this problem was Lod Stewart's technical as a result of anger after a teammate was called for a foul. Usually technicals are assessed on the player who complains about a foul they are personally charged with. Rarely does a teammate complain about another teammate being charged a foul. Unless it was bullshit. And the whole night was full of it.

Quick analysis:

Ucla attempted 13 free throws in the last 1:12 of the game as a result of USC's intentional-end-of-the-game fouling strategy. USC attempted 0 free throws in this time. Therefore the meaningful discrepancy is 18 to 5. If USC had 13 more free throw attempts at a (measly) 60.0% FT shooting percentage, it would have resulted in 7-8 points.

To go a step further, had the free throw attempts been equal, USC might have been leading 62-59 with 1:12 left in the game, and Ucla would have had to foul. USC may or may not have hit their foul shots to secure the win, like Ucla did do (to their credit). Still, it would have been nice to not have officials factor so heavily into a loss.

It's Signing Day!

2007-02-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

It's a very exciting time in the world of college football: National Letter of Intent Day.

A big Fight On! to RB Joe McKnight for having the courage to ignore hometown pressure in Louisianna and travel across the country to play at the University of Southern California. Same to RB Broderick Green for reaffirming his earlier commitment to leave the State of Arkansas to go to USC.

And an even bigger Fight On! to recruits like LB Chris Galippo, RB Marc Tyler, DE Everson Griffen and LB/FB Jordan Campbell who committed early and devoted themselves to convincing their peers to join them at USC.

The excitement about Pete Carroll's program is infectious. I'm jacked up right now! Maybe I'll go tackle my boss ...

More Reggie

2007-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

My personal theory about what actually happened in the "Reggie Bush Situation":

LaMarr Griffin (Reggie Bush's stepdad) knew Lloyd Lake (the felon) because they grew up in the same neighborhood. At some point, Lake and Griffin get together and Griffin says starting a agency would be a good idea - even though nobody involved knows what the hell they are doing. So Lake says he knows a guy named Michael Michaels who has resources (because he invests in Real Estate and is a member of a Tribe that runs Indian Casinos). So these bumbling idiots try to start an agency and fail, because they can't get extra funding from a San Diego-area Indian Tribe, and their job offers get turned down by real, NFL-certified, agents. They have a sports marketing company in name only. If they ever employed an actual agent, they would have called it an agency instead. No employees. No office. No company transactions. Then Lake does something stupid and goes to prison. Reggie and the Griffins decide they can't mess around, and go with a top-notch agent. Instead of these clowns - who could never get to the point where they could have represented Reggie anyway.

So Lake cries foul and starts making wild accusations to Yahoo! Sports, grossly overestimating money owed to him. Griffin says, hey these were personal loans between friends (credit card debt and housing situation), not part of a failed business venture. Lake says his money is always business and threatens to sue. The Griffins and Bush say it is extortion and call the Feds to investigate. Lake/Michaels threatens to keep tarnishing Bush reputation until he pays up. Then at some point Lake and Micheals find out that if they call any loans are business and not personal, jeopardizing Bush's NCAA eligibility, then they could go to jail for violating the state's Agent Law. Michaels was always more of a financial investor, doesn't want to go to jail, hires his own attorney and separates himself from Lake.

So now it seems they just want a lower settlement, and are still using Yahoo! Sports to pressure Bush. Yahoo! Sports is overjoyed at continuing to be puppets for a convicted felon's attempts to extort money from Bush and ruin his reputation. Bush and the Griffins maybe are listening to offers, or maybe they are telling Lake's attorney and Micheals' attorney to perform an anatomically-impossible sexual act.

WeAreSC.com

2007-02-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, I spend a considerable amount of time over at WeAreSC.com's football message board. However, recently the Scout.com network determined that a switch had to be made and the old EzBoard site that I have grown to love over the years had to die off.

I'm feeling very nostalgic about the old football message board. It's not that I fear change, or that I want to elicit a spanking from female posters Kitana and uscvball (this is what they are threatening posters with who refuse to move over to the new board - Well, everybody but me, probably because I don't flirt with them since I actually encourage The Wife to read what I post on the message boards). I just like this old site, and I'm sad to see it go.

Since I started posting over 3 years ago, alot of good posters have come and gone, and alot of good threads have come and gone.

Many memories have gone too. It won't be long before there is a new bunch of posters who don't even remember the old system.

Lamenting Professional Sports

2007-01-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

I think there are 3 significant problems with most professional sports:

1. Salary caps
2. Extended seasons
3. Boredom

1. Parity blows. People prefer dominant teams. The Yankees, Lakers, 49ers, Cowboys, etc. You either love them or love to hate them.

2. Too many teams playing too many games. The quality is watered down, and all the seasons run into each other forcing you to chose between following one sport or the other.

3. Baseball has too many pitching changes, and takes too long between pitches. Games should last 2 1/2 hours, not 4 1/2 hours. Football and basketball games have too many timeouts called at the end of a game. 4 minutes of game clock can take 45 minutes, killing what should be the most exciting part of the game. I often get bored and change the channel instead of watching all the commercials.

AP Poll and Coaches Poll

2007-01-26T13:52:00.000-08:00

How would the NCAA convince two private organizations, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, to take away the 2004 National Title from USC?

Supposing that the NCAA made USC "not recognize" the Poll outcomes, the final voting in the 2004 Polls would still remain the same. They can't simply go back in time and vote a new #1.

While nothing is out of the realm of possibility, the talk of stripping Reggie of the Heisman and USC of the 2004 NC is ridiculous. These private organizations cannot be forced to do anything.

So what we could end up with is no title for USC and no Heisman for Reggie (after they break into his home to retrieve it?), but the acknowledgement that USC was voted #1 by both polls in 2004 and Reggie Bush was named the Best College Football Player in 2004 (but we stopped recognizing factual history)?

Have any of these "Yahoos" ever actually stopped to think what losing a NC or a Heisman would like, since it has never happened before (probably should not ever happen), and time travel is not possible?

I Like My Daughter Better When She's Sick

2007-01-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

I have what is commonly referred to as a "High Need Child". She is also described as "Spirited", "Challenging" and good ol'fashioned "Hyperactive".

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), she was ill on Monday, which included having a fever and some vomiting. However, she was the absolute perfect child that day. She was calm and affectionate. She listened to directions. She didn't get into any trouble or break anything. All she wanted to do was be loved and comforted by The Wife and I. We were happy to oblige.

As far as I am concerned, it was a great day.

Reggie's Ride

2007-01-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

I said it before, and I'll say it again. The reason why I don't like these allegations is because Yahoo! Sports alleges that Reggie was given money to buy a car.

Did he get a big black brand-new SUV tricked out Lebron James style like Adrian Peterson, Maurice Clarrett, and DeShaun Foster were driving? No.

Reggie got a 10-year-old, used up, Chevy sedan.

Compared to other stories of players getting cars, this sounds like small potatoes. So does that make the allegation that much more believable because the gift was modest? Or does it look like someone (Lloyd Lake, Yahoo!, or both) are really out to get Reggie?

I know one thing for sure: I wouldn't risk my Heisman Trophy for some crappy used car.

Yahoo! Slings More Poo

2007-01-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

I won't dignify Yahoo! Sports crappy, low-brow, damn the facts full speed ahead reporting style by posting the whole article, so here is a link to their newest installment in the The Official Reggie Bush Witch Hunt:

The Bush Tapes

Staying

2007-01-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

LB Keith Rivers - Announced he would return for his Senior season.

Assistant Head Coach & QB Coach Steve Sarkisian - Turned down the Head Coaching position with the Oakland Raiders, elevated to USC's Offensive Coordinator by Pete Carroll.

DT Walker Lee Ashley - Wanted to transfer but is currently still at USC. EDIT: Has completed a transfer to the University of Minnesota. (Per 2/4/07 Scout.com story)

FB Brandon Hancock - Preliminary reports say that his petition to the NCAA for a 6th year of eligibility was granted (due to medical issues). Brandon is awaiting his surgeon's clearance though.

RB Chauncey Washington, OT Sam Baker, DT Sedrick Ellis, DE Lawrence Jackson and QB John David Booty will all return for their Senior seasons.

Going

2007-01-24T08:25:00.000-08:00

EDIT: S Antwine Perez - transferred to the University of Maryland.

DE Jeff Schweiger - transferred to San Jose St.

WR Dwayne Jarrett - Declared early for NFL Draft.

P Taylor Odegard - Has quit football to focus on academics and a future non-football career.

K Troy Van Blarcom - Academically ineligible and kicked out of school for failure to maintain a sufficient overall GPA.

Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin - Hired as Head Coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders, thereby becoming the personal bitch of Owner Al Davis, Jr.

K Mario Danelo - Tragedy.

Big & Physical = Fat & Slow

2007-01-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

Back to the Rose Bowl.

Was it such a shock that USC thoroughly dismantled Michigan, a team which some experts thought was worthy of a rematch with Ohio State in Glendale, Arizona? Not really.

This is a simple rule to live by: In the Pete Carroll era, any current opponent or possible future opponent that is described as "Big and Physical" by its fans and/or the so-called experts, simply translates to "Fat and Slow".

Michigan, Oklahoma, Iowa ... I'm talking to you.

I'm Going Home to Beat The Wife and Kids

2007-01-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

I'm just kidding. I'm going home to give them gentle encouragement.

When I was working at one particular construction project, after any difficult day the superintendent would joke that he was going home to beat the wife and kids, or he was going home to take it out on the wife and kids, or some other variation.

This only comes to mind because California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber is in the news for drafting legislation to outlaw the spanking of children under the age of four in the State of California.

From my understanding, if you spank your children, you had better not leave a mark (bruising) or you are going to jail. And I think that is a good rule to live by.

However, what you see now is more mental abuse by parents than physical abuse, because of the laws already in place on physical abuse. Would should have more laws on mental abuse of children, and leave the physical abuse laws as they are.

Furthermore, in my humble opinion, part of the gang problem we have is that new immigrants from other countries come here and they are used to beating the hell out of their kids to install authority over them. ***If anybody thinks I'm wrong, then ask anyone with Mexican heritage who's 30 and over about "The Chankla"*** We tell these parents from other cultures that the physical abuse of children is wrong, and the parents don't know how to raise a child without doing it. So they don't discipline their children, the children get out of control, and it leads to criminal activity later in life.

While the aforementioned "beating the hell out of your children" approach does not guarantee that you will have well-behaved children, I find it interesting that adults who were rowdy, out-of-control, and spanked as children are firm believers in corporal punishment.

More Jarrett

2007-01-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

These photos represent Jarrett's legacy at USC. Especially "4th and 9", one of the greatest moments in USC history.

Bye, Bye "Ocho"

2007-01-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

Dwayne Jarrett has decided to leave USC a year early and enter the NFL Draft. Good luck in the league, Ocho. Personally, I wonder if he is making a mistake coming out early since he may be taken after Wide Reciever Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech, and Tedd Ginn Jr. of Ohio St. (if he leaves early). Even crazier things could happen, like Jeff Samardzija of Notre Dame, Robert Meachem of Tennessee, or Sidney Rice of South Carolina also being taken ahead of Jarrett.

It is interesting to note that ESPN's Mel Kiper has Ocho at #14 on his Big Board, after Johnson and Samardzija. Even more interersting is that CB Leon Hall is listed four spots ahead of Jarrett after Jarrett torched him and the Michigan secondary for 205 yards and 2 TD's.

Draft predictions aside, Dwayne Jarrett was the best Wide Reciever in College Football last year and the year before. I could understand the argument of Calvin Johnson being better, but even while injured Jarrett was never shut out in a game last year.

Fight On! to a great Trojan, Dwayne Jarrett. Ocho.

While his announcement to go pro was expected, it still breaks the hearts of the Trojan Family. This is the same Trojan Family who chanted "One more year! One more year!" when Jarrett received his trophy for being the Offensive Player of the Game in the Rose Bowl against Michigan. However, Ocho did even more to endear himself to Trojan Fans everywhere when he shed real, sincere tears during his press conference to go pro. (Photos courtesy of WeAreSC.com)

The Overrated Chant is Overrated

2007-01-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

So there I was in Rose Bowl enjoying my team's dominating win over Michigan in the 4th quarter, when the crowd around me starts the "Overrated Chant". I first tried to motion to my section (in a subtle throat slashing gesture) to cut that crap out. Once the chant had died down, I chastised the crowd around me by saying, "Michigan is not overrated. Michigan is good. We are just THAT much better."

I did not get much of a reaction, except from one possibly intoxicated female fan sitting a row above me. She seemed to be getting more friendly with me as the game wore on, so she was probably biased. The Wife was absolutely not worried. In a strange way, that makes me kinda sad.

Back to the topic: NEVER, ever diminish your win. The better your opponent is, the more impressive the victory over them. A fanbase should never start the Overrated Chant if they are accustomed to winning. And winning is something that USC does very well.

USC finishes at #4

2007-01-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

The USC Trojans finished the 2006 season, a rebuilding year, ranked No. 4 in both the AP and Coaches Polls.

Why not No. 2?

Is it because the Rose Bowl was more of a distant memory (all of a week ago) than LSU beating the snot out of ND (as expected) or Florida beating the snot out of Ohio State (not expected)? Either way, it doesn't really matter. When you are not No. 1, a Top 5 finish is all that anybody remembers, or keeps track of.

2007 Rose Bowl Champions sounds pretty damn good to me.

R.I.P. Mario Danelo

2007-01-08T23:58:00.000-08:00

Mario Danelo (Born July 3, 1985 – Died January 6, 2007)

USC Place Kicker Mario Danelo's body was found was found by a passer-by on January 6, 2007 in San Pedro, California at the bottom of the 120 foot tall White Point Cliff near Point Fermin Lighthouse.

His death has shocked the Trojan Family.

(Note the above photos were "borrowed" from Joe Andras of WeAreSC.com)

Rose Bowl Montage

2007-01-08T23:02:00.000-08:00

Best Rose Bowl Recap

2007-01-08T22:54:00.000-08:00

The best Rose Bowl recap belongs to a favorite writer/commentator of mine, Ivan Maisel of ESPN.

Updated: Jan. 2, 2007, 5:37 PM ET
Jarrett puts spark back in Trojans offense in bowl win

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
Archive

PASADENA, Calif. -- One drive into the third quarter of the 93rd Rose Bowl, Michigan had made it clear to USC that it would not be able to move the ball on the ground. The Wolverines had limited the Trojans to 19 yards on 15 carries.

Big mistake. Once USC abandoned the run, Michigan never had a chance.

"We're talking on the headsets," offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said of his conversation with quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian. "We said, 'We're not running the ball another play.'"

On the next 30 plays over five possessions, quarterback John David Booty threw 28 passes. The other two snaps? Quarterback sneaks for first downs.

The rest was history -- and so were the Wolverines. Those five possessions produced four touchdown passes and a field goal, and the No. 8 Trojans (11-2) pulled away to a 32-18 victory over the No. 3 Wolverines (11-2).

Harry How/Getty Images

John David Booty found Dwayne Jarrett in the end zone for two of his four touchdown passes.

Booty finished with 391 yards and the four scores, completing 27 of 45 attempts. Rarely have such big numbers belonged to an assistant. The guy who applied the paddles to the Trojans' chest, Dwayne Jarrett, did so by stretching the Wolverines' secondary beyond its vertical limit.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Jarrett not only caught 11 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns but also made Michigan cornerbacks Leon Hall and Morgan Trent look as if they belonged on the USC scout team. That's saying something, since Hall made many All-America teams and finished the regular season as a Thorpe Award finalist.

Jarrett surpassed Keary Colbert to become the Trojans' all-time leading receiver (216 catches) in what might have been his last college game. He is expected to leave early for the NFL. As ESPN anchor Chris Fowler interviewed the Offensive Player of the Game, the Trojans' fans chanted, "One more year! One more year!"

Jarrett sounded as if he had one foot on the April stage with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"I've been here three years. I've had great success here," Jarrett said. "It's not definite. There's nothing written in stone. I'll go back home with my family, talk about it, get all the facts and try to make the best decision."

In other words, so long.

"Dwayne had an absolute memorable night," USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Not to give short shrift to the Trojans' defense, which sacked Wolverines quarterback Chad Henne six times, forced two turnovers and limited tailback Mike Hart to a season-low 47 yards. But the game changed when USC changed its offense.

The Trojans scored only one touchdown on this same field a month ago in their 13-9 loss to UCLA. The first half against Michigan ended in a 3-3 tie. Once Kiffin and Sarkisian cut loose, the Trojans found their rhythm, thanks largely to Jarrett. The junior, who struggled with injuries over the first half of the season, finished with a career best in yards and tied his career best in catches.

Jarrett had an advantage of three inches and 31 pounds on Trent, and five inches and 22 pounds on Hall. He also proved he knows how to use his hands to get open, and to catch the ball once he does.

"If you don't have perfect position on him, he's going to catch it. That's all there is to it," Trent said.

Trent didn't have perfect position on him very often. Jarrett said the Wolverines had "a little bit of a weakness" in the secondary. He didn't use "weakness" and Trent in the same sentence, but later Jarrett said, "The times he was on me, we tried to exploit it for big plays."

Harry How/Getty Images

Dwayne Jarrett's Rose Bowl performance sent his NFL draft stock soaring.

Take that first touchdown drive. Trent bit on a jab step by Jarrett, who then cut inside and caught a 25-yard pass at the Michigan 2. That set up Booty's first touchdown pass on the next play to Chris McFoy.

Jarrett beat Trent again on the next possession, shaking off his tackle and taking Booty's quick pass 22 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead to 16-3 (Mario Danelo missed the extra point, the first of his two misses).

Jarrett saved his best for the fourth quarter. Michigan had closed the lead to 19-11 with a snappy eight-play, 80-yard drive. On third-and-10 from the USC 38, Jarrett simply sprinted past Hall and safety Willis Barringer. He caught a strike from Booty near the Michigan 25, slipped out of a diving Hall's desperate grasp and glided into the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown.

Barringer, speaking on behalf of frustrated Wolverines everywhere, laid a hit on Jarrett three or four steps into the end zone, earning a dead-ball personal foul.

"That was the backbreaker of the game," Jarrett said. "It started to open up more."

On the next possession, Booty needed four plays to take the Trojans 80 yards: a 26-yard fade to Steve Smith; a 29-yard jump ball on which Jarrett beat Trent and Barringer again; a 23-yard perfectly placed pass that tight end Fred Davis caught with his left hand; and a 7-yard scoring pass to Smith. The Trojans led 32-11 with 6:52 to play.

How big was the lead?

When USC got the ball back, it ran on first down.

"I felt like Texas Tech," Kiffin said. "It was kind of fun. [Michigan was] the No. 1 rush defense in the country for a reason. I was hoping it wouldn't come to that point."

In retrospect, should USC have abandoned the run sooner?

"I don't know that," Kiffin said. "They still are thinking we're trying to run the ball. We had play-action that was working because they were still honoring the run."

The Trojans, even without Jarrett, might be the preseason No. 1 next fall. Ten starters return on defense, as well as Booty and three starters on the offensive line. On the day that the Arizona Cardinals fired coach Dennis Green, it's noteworthy that Carroll said he would be back, too. He has made calls to friends in the NFL over the last month sounding them out about the Arizona job.

"No, there's no question" of his return, Carroll said. "I have no question."

On this New Year's Day, USC had only answers.

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Send your questions and comments to Ivan at ivan.maisel@espn3.com.

The Rose Bowl, T-Shirts, More Money

2007-01-08T22:47:00.000-08:00

... the Rose Bowl, T-shirts, more money! This is one of my favorite chants from the Spirit of Troy, the USC Trojan Marching Band (aka the Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe).

And now that the Rose Bowl has ended with a Trojan Victory, I will proceed to the Bookstore and purchase a Rose Bowl Champions T-shirt and sweatshirt.

Note that USC is now 3-0 in Rose Bowl Games that I have attended. 1996 against Northwestern, 2004 and 2007 against Michigan.

The Ticket Office should have made sure that I won the ticket lottery last year.

Co-Champs? We don't need no stinking Co-Champs!

2006-12-29T20:58:00.000-08:00

During Cal's big win over Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl, the announcers made numerous references to the Pac10's decision to name both Cal and USC Conference Co-Champions, even though the conference went to a full, round-robin, 9-game conference schedule this year that definitively crowns a champion. Why do I say "definitively"? Because no conference teams are skipped and there was a rule change a decade ago eliminating the possibility of a tie in college football. Therefore, you either win the conference, or you don't. There cannot be a two-way tie (although you could have a highly improbable 3-way tie).

Certainly, the school presidents who approved the 12 game season and 9 game conference schedule were more concerned about other issues. Namely, because numerous schools wanted to make sure they played in Southern California (at USC or at Ucla) at least once a year, to take advantage of the most fertile recruiting ground in the conference. Also, Stanford flat out refused to approve the 12 game season unless all the other member schools agreed on the 9 game conference slate.

Regardless of the motives behind the change, the Pac10 received many kudos around the college football world, including sportswriters and fans, for having a clear cut system to crown a conference champion. One particular proponent that I most remember is ESPN's Ivan Maisel during radio interviews and preseason articles. However, the conference leadership chose to take all this goodwill and flush it down the toilet by screwing up the easiest and most clear cut way to determine a conference champion.

Do I have a problem with sharing? Maybe. Am I being a hypocrite because USC was named co-champs in 2002 with Wazzu, even though Wazzu won head to head? Possibly. It should be noted that prior to 2006 there was good reason to name co-champs since one conference school was left off the schedule each year, thereby creating some doubt.

In this humble fan's opinion, naming co-champs this year speaks volumes about the gross incompetence of the leadership of the Pac10. Tom Hansen should be fired. The Pac10 has arguably the worst bowl tie-ins, the worst television contract, and an absolute lack of self promotion (see the Southeastern Conference if you want a definition of self-promotion). In addition, the Pac10 has bent over and taken the humiliation of USC (2003), Oregon (2001) and Washington (2000) being left out of the BCS National Championship Game, as well as Oregon (2005) and Cal (2004) being left out of the BCS all together. And don't get me started on how little backbone Tom Hansen showed during the Oklahoma/Oregon mess this year (telling OU to stop yer whinin', and threatening to sue if they tried to back out of their series contract with Washington would have been a good start).

Oregon St comes back to win Sun Bowl

2006-12-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

Oregon St QB Matt Moore throws for 356 yards, 4 TD's and 1 INT in the 2006 Sun Bowl to beat Missouri by a score of 39-38.

After the trio of dogmeat Pac10 teams (Oregon, Arizona St, Ucla) embarrassed the conference in their respective lower-tier, crappy bowl games, the Pac10's image has gotten a lift from Cal's dominating win in the Holiday Bowl and OSU's nail-biting victory in the Sun Bowl.

Now that the conference's better teams have won their upper-tier bowl games, and the conference's mediocre to barely-bowl-eligible teams have lost their crappy, lower-tier bowl games - what does this say about USC's chances in the Rose Bowl?

Absolutely nothing.

USC is Cal's Daddy

2006-12-29T19:18:00.000-08:00

As Cal's Daddy, USC is proud of their little boy's win over Texas A&M (or ATM to you football message board members) in the Holiday Bowl.

It's nice to know that USC was too physical for Cal, and Cal was too physical for Texas A&M.

Ucla Embarrasses Themselves

2006-12-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

So what else is new?

Let's review Ucla's stellar bowl record under Radio ... uh, I mean Head Coach Karl Dorrell:

2006 Emerald Bowl: Florida St 44 - Ucla 27
2005 Sun Bowl: Ucla 50 - Northwestern 38
2004 Las Vegas Bowl: Wyoming 24 - Ucla 21
2003 Silicon Valley Classic: Fresno St 17 - Ucla 9

(Note that bowl wins are in bold - I wanted to highlight Ucla's losses, but that would be too much bolding to do)

Two things to note about this data, (1) All of these games are crappy lower tier bowl games, and (2) None of the opposing teams in these games were any good that year.

Yet we still hear from Radio and Ucla homers that this program has turned the proverbial corner. Actually, Ucla has turned 3 corners and is right back where they started.

That's right Bruce Davis, hang your head in shame. You've earned it.

My Boy!!!

2006-12-27T22:44:00.000-08:00

The Wife is now 7 months pregnant with My Boy!!! At the end of October he was photographed with the family jewels on full display. Of course I was proud of this shot. The first thought that came into my mind was "He must be having a really good dream". Unfortunately, this ultrasound revealed a possible problem of placenta previa, which would require a Cesarean Section. I kept referring to it as "Placenta Primavera" - which must be one nasty pasta dish.

Well, a week ago we had a second ultrasound. And although we have not gotten the official word from the Doctor, it looks like there will be no complications. Thank God. The Wife can have a natural childbirth and My Boy!!! will get to show what he is made of when he gets his chance to push his way out.

Pictures from the second ultrasound possibly show My Boy!!!'s confidence in being a complication-free pregnancy, considering that he seems to be giving the hand gesture that every thing is "Okay".

However, on closer inspection, it seems that he is a little pissed that we keep intruding on his privacy to capture shots of his dinky.

Not even born yet and he's already giving the finger. I am sooooooo proud (wiping a tear from my eye). They just grow up so fast these days.

So Who Dies Next?

2006-12-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

People say that things happen in three's. They say that all the time at my wife's workplace when it comes to pregnancies. They also say it when it comes to high profile deaths.

On Christmas Day, the legendary Godfather of Soul, James Brown, passed away. Not to be outdone, former President Gerald R. Ford died the next day. So the only question now is, who is the next famous person to kick the bucket? Until recently when an appellate court upheld his death sentence, it looked like Saddam Hussein might be next. What a strange trio that would have been.

UPDATE December 29, 2006

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein executed

That Special Relationship between Coach and Player

2006-12-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

Possible Notre Dame Recruiting Poster:

Send your son to Notre Dame. Our Head Coach will be his best friend, and so much more!

Seriously, can you believe the look on Charlie Weis' face?

"Sorry Brady, I didn't hear anything you said. I got lost in your eyes again."

And I thought no one could top the intimacy of Vince Young and Mack Brown.

Stop Hart and you Stop Michigan?

2006-12-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

Some believe, including yours truly, that the key to beating Michigan (or any other team for that matter) is to stop the run and make that team one-dimensional. This means that Mike Hart must be held to under 100 yards rushing for the game. Over 100 yards rushing for Hart could spell doom for USC. The majority of USC's losses or close games over the last 5 years included an opposing running back rushing for more than 100 yards.

Mike Hart is currently #8 on the NCAA Division I-A Rushing Leaders list, per ESPN, with 1,515 rushing yards. The following is a breakdown of how USC has fared against other national rushing leaders:

Darren McFadden (Ark) - 1,558 rushing yards (season)
... 42 yards against USC

Marshawn Lynch (Cal) - 1,245 rushing yards (season)
... 88 yards against USC

Darius Walker (ND) - 1,139 rushing yards (season)
... 56 yards against USC

Ryan Torain (ASU) - 1,069 rushing yards (season)
... 57 yards against USC

Felix Jones (Ark) - 1,018 rushing yards (season)
... 48 yards against USC

Chris Markey (Ucla) - 963 rushing yards (season)
... 51 yards against USC

Jonathan Stewart (Ore) - 960 rushing yards (season)
... 42 yards against USC

Brandon Jackson (Neb) - 951 rushing yards (season)
... 1 yard against USC

Death before Dishonor

2006-12-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

The huge national story of James Kim and his family lost in the wilderness of Grant's Pass, Oregon has brought about many a sensitive and thoughtful response about how tragic his death was. But not from me. My first thoughts on the subject, before his body was even found, was how much better it would be for him to just die in that forest. Inevitably, if he was found alive, he and his wife would argue over who's fault it was that they came to be stuck in the snow on that desolate mountain road. This would be followed by a vicious divorce where his wife would get the kids, the house, the car stuck in the snow, as well as all his money, and his life would be over anyways. So he was better off dying in the woods. Alone. Frozen. Hungry. But with Honor. That and a generous life insurance policy payout for his wife and kids to better remember him by.

Random Thought of the Day

2006-12-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

Why did God give us fingerprints? Fingerprints have always been an indentifier of every human being on this planet. During the time that billions of human beings have come and gone on this earth, no set of fingerprints have been duplicated. Maybe you think we have them so God can identify us. Well He made us, so I think He can tell the difference. I don't need to look at my daughter's fingerprints to know that she is mine.

I think that God gave us fingerprints so that we cannot act anonymously, so that we have to take responsibility for our actions.

(Even though I believe we all need to take responsibility for actions, that doesn't mean I am going to use my real name on this blog or the WeAreSC forums that I post on)

The Return of LoJack

2006-12-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

Great news out of Heritage Hall this morning, star Defensive End Lawrence Jackson of Inglewood, CA ("Inglewoood, Inglewood always up to no good" - Tupac) is returning for his senior season. Great news for Trojans fans, bad news for the nation. LoJack had a very slow start to the season, largely due to Pete Carroll's decision to swtich to a 3-4 defense this year. Of course that is just this fan's humble opinion.

The decision to swtich to the 3-4 probably resulted from the lack of development of sophomore DE Kyle Moore, the food poisoning suffered by junior DE Jeff Schwieger causing him to drop 30 pounds right before fall practice, and the emergence of Brian Cushing as an outstanding football player while replacing two-time team captain Dallas Sartz last year at strong-side linebacker (the SAM position). This year Sartz returned as a starter at the SAM position, so Pete Carroll decided to get Brian Cushing on the field as a starting DE (although it was officially called the Elephant position) due to the lack of a quality DE to start opposite LoJack.

Big Hit on Cowan

2006-12-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

OUCH!

Mr. Rey Maualuga, or "Rey Rey" as he's known among friends, is seen here laying the wood to Ucla QB Patrick Cowan. To his credit, Cowan bounced right back up again and headed to the Ucla huddle. He did however need the help of his teammates to put his helmet and shoulder pads straight again.

It Takes No Special Talent to Criticize

2006-12-06T16:12:00.001-08:00

(This is something I felt like posting after the Oregon St. loss, but is more appropriate now.)

Any fool can criticize. It takes no effort at all to say this person sucks or that person sucks. Some people believe they have all the answers, and everyone else must be incredible morons not to see it. Well, I have news for you: You don't have all the answers. You're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

Little good ever comes from demanding a coach's head after a loss. Remember when people wanted John Robinson gone? Guess who his replacement was: He Who Shall Remain Nameless. Remember when people wanted OC Mike Reilly gone? His replacement was Hue Jackson.

No good ever comes from throwing a player under the bus. It is completely shameful and the mark of substandard fanbases.

Internet petitions are a joke.

Starting a website called "FireKiffin.com" is stupid.

Predicting a blowout loss in the next game is traitorous.

But back to my original point, no special talent is needed to criticize. Anybody can be a critic, while only few are truly successful. You think you can do a better job than Pete Carroll? Post your resume. You think you can do a better job than Lane Kiffin? Post your resume. Otherwise, please be respectful of our 2-Time National Champion Head Coach and whomever he decides to have on HIS staff.

I Can't Believe We Lost

2006-12-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Analysis may come later, if I can bring myself to watch it from the Tivo.

I attended the game, and I was shocked. Still am. Shock is the only way to describe what happened Saturday. On paper, there was no way the Trojans could lose. But that is why they play the games.

Truthful, non-delusional Bruins were just as shocked. Many Ucla fans hoped a blowout Trojan win would mean the end of Karl Dorrell. Now they are stuck with him for at least 2 more years.

The Ucla Three Ring Circus

2006-12-01T16:05:00.000-08:00

There are many issues I have with Ucla, the least of which are the above photos.

Ucla stole their colors, name, mascot and fight song from Cal. Cal actually sued over it.

I write "Ucla" because some moron decided to steal the script used in the "Cal" logo and apply it to Ucla. The problem with it is that they capitalize the first letter of an acronym to make it seem like "Ucla" is an actual word that should be pronounced either "uck-la" or "ook-la".

They have a 60-year-old male virgin leading their cheers.

They have a juggler on their sideline. I kid you not.

Their main cheer is the "8 Clap", which I hear can be cleared up with a healthy dose of penicillin.

Their home stadium is in another city.

They have a both a male and a female teddy bear on the sidelines.

What's next, the Bearded Lady? Well several of their ugly public school cheerleaders can fill that role.

Ugly Cheerleaders Lousy Athletes

2006-12-01T15:57:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite version of the Ucla acronym. Other good ones:

University of
Champion
Lesbian
Athletics

U
Clowns
Lose
Again

U
Can't
Learn
Anything

University of
Caucasians
Lost among
Asians

University of
Chumps
Losers and
Anklebiters

Please Dear God, don't let the bRuins fire Dorrell

2006-12-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

Is this:

A. Rare Passion exhibited by Ucla Coach Karl Dorrell
B. Constipation
C. A Paper Cut in the worst of places?

Kramer, Your Friendly Seinfeld Neighborhood Bigot

2006-11-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

By now Michael Richards' racial outburst has been debated and discussed ad nauseum. But when I think about the topic my thoughts generally shift to Richard Belzer.

Keep with me here.

Richard Belzer, of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fame, started out as a stand-up comic. (They don't like to be called comedians anymore - Why? I have no idea) Experienced stand-up comics know how to deal with hecklers. A novice like Michael Richards did not, and he is paying the price. This is how a pro handles a heckler:

One night I was watching a crappy VH1 show that did a piss-poor job of trying to rank the Top100 comics. Then there was this bright shining moment, one of the hosts shared a story about Richard Belzer. When heckled with, "Nice jacket. Where'd you get it?" Belzer immediately responded, "In your mother's vagina. I get all my clothes there. It's like a clothing super-warehouse."

Quick Michigan vs. USC Comparison

2006-11-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

The conventional wisdon states that:

1) USC has hands-down the best schedule
2) Michigan looks like the 2nd best team, but they had their chance and lost
3) Therefore USC should play OSU in the BCS National Championship Game

This is all fine and good, mainly because I like the end result of USC being in the BCS National Championship Game, but I question the Michigan vs. USC logic being used. Namely, why doesn't anyone point out that Michigan should look like the better team when playing the worse schedule?

Simply put, USC is better than what the human eye has seen on the field, and Michigan is worse that what has been seen by the human eye, comparatively.

Note that I am specifically using the term "BCS National Championship Game" because the AP Poll goes it's way. And if USC beats Ohio State to claim the BCS while the AP Poll crowns Michigan #1, I am perfectly fine with it.

The Coliseum was Jumping

2006-11-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

The atmosphere in the Coliseum this past Saturday might have been the best that I have ever witnessed. The night started loud, finished loud, and was loud in between - on every play. We were moved one section over to accommodate the Notre Dame fatcats, but that didn't dampen our spirits, even though my view was impeaded by not the goalposts, but by one the poles used to raise the netting for field goal attempts and extra point tries.

It was a great night all around. A resounding Trojan victory over the Irish all but ensured that USC wold be spending January 8th in Glendale, Arizona. And if Brady Quinn's Heisman hopes had any life left in them going into the game, they were all but extinguished by halftime.

Unfortunately, the majority of the ND fans were moved to the opposite endzone in Section 1, therefore I didn't get to mention anything about the Potato Famine when Irish fans left after the Brian Cushing touchdown. Not that they would have heard me anyways, because the place was loud, the place was energized, the place was jumping!

Beat Our Lady of the Knee High Grass

2006-11-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

... and Beat her patron saint, Charlie "Fat Bastard" Weis

Beat the Mispronounced French Church

Beat the Tarnished Dome

Beat the Leprechauns

Beat the Drunken Irish

Beat the Perpetually Overrated

Beat the Domers

Beat the Perpetually Overranked

Beat Granny Holtz

Beat the We Are Catholic In Name Only School

Beat the Lawnmower-Challenged

Beat the Champion of the Armed Forces Conference

Beat the Holier Than Thou Attitude

Beat the I Can't Find South Bend On A Map ND Fans

Beat the Never Waking Echoes

Beat the Irish!

Cal, Who's your Daddy!

2006-11-22T14:09:00.000-08:00

Nipped in the bud

Once again, Trojans show Bears who’s in charge

By BOB PADECKY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

LOS ANGELES - Until proven otherwise, and it’s beginning to look like it will take a lot of proof, USC is Cal’s daddy.

JAE C. HONG / AP

USC’s Taylor Mays breaks up a pass intended for
Cal wide receiver DeSean Jackson in the first half
of Saturday’s game in Los Angeles.

There is no gentle way to put that. No kind way to give Cal a pat on the back and say nice try, Bears. No tries are nice when the Rose Bowl is on the line. USC is Cal’s daddy because daddy is in charge, daddy knows when to turn it on and daddy knows how to take his kid to school.

And in the fourth quarter Saturday night, USC took Cal to class. USC showed the Bears what to do when the hands on the fourth-quarter game clock are going tick, tick, TICK, so loud you might forget why you’re here.

USC didn’t. With the score tied at 9-9, the Trojans scored back-to-back touchdowns. Cal answered the first score this way: two incomplete passes by Bears quarterback Nate Longshore and a 2-yard completion.

Cal answered the second touchdown this way: three incomplete passes, the third one dropped by a Trojans defender. Longshore appeared overwhelmed.

“You got to be able to keep up (with USC),” said Cal coach Jeff Tedford, giving the impression the Bears scrambled as best they could. And they did. The Bears don’t have to apologize for this one. They weren’t jobbed, victims of a conspiracy. They didn’t flop, fall flat or lean against excuses.

“At least we got this close (to the Rose Bowl),” said Cal offensive guard Erik Robertson, and if that sounds like acceptance, it is. It also shows the fundamental difference between Cal and USC, a flaw you might call it.

USC, if it had lost this game, would have never had a player say afterward, “At least we got this close.” Never. The Trojans don’t do close. The Trojans have won 21 Rose Bowls, 17 of them since Cal last won one. The Trojans have won seven national championships, two in the last three years. Those numbers aren’t just an egregious excuse to fill out the team’s press guide.

Those numbers are comfort in time of need, like Saturday when the Rose Bowl was hanging in the balance.

Those numbers are the sunglasses the Trojans wear when the spotlight is on them, like Saturday when the light was bright, especially the BCS one.

A team with those numbers, that tradition, plays like USC did Saturday in the fourth quarter. A team with those skins hanging on the wall doesn’t say, as Cal linebacker Desmond Bishop said, “We’re a program definitely on the rise.”

Oh, rather Bishop could say about the Bears what Robertson said about the Trojans: “They do a very good job at getting at the end of the season.”

USC, gunning for a national championship, flipped the switch and turned up the flame Saturday. Cal, gunning for national respect, achieved that.

The Bears didn’t embarrass themselves.

They led at the half, 9-6. They were tied at the end of three. But when it came for them to find their flame from their usual fire-starters, the Trojans were there to snuff them.

“No team this season played DeSean (Jackson) more aggressively than they did tonight,” Tedford said about his electrifying game-breaking wide receiver who had just two catches for 41 yards. “Someone was always in his face. He was always double covered.”

Running back Marshawn Lynch, the other hot current on offense, had 91 yards on 21 carries, but never had a run that was an eyelash from being a game-turning breakaway.

The Trojans were too fast, too many, too often. And it wasn’t a fluke, like the Trojans had just enough on defense.

The Trojans are obscenely talented — oh, that the Bears could say that — and that fact was never more obvious than when a kid named C.J. Gable ran the football.

“Before the game we said, ‘Who is this guy?’ ” Bears linebacker Zack Follet said. “We didn’t expect him to do anything.”

Yet this Gable kid, a freshman who had only 40 rushing attempts all season and gained only 159 yards, ran for 112 yards. Subbing for a banged-up Chauncey Washington, Gable ate up yards and time and did what USC running backs do, and that would be to keep the sticks moving on the sidelines.

“They have the No. 1 recruiting class every year,” Tedford said. “They have great coaching. There is no room for mistakes when you play them. They just keep coming after you.”

With wave upon wave of talent, the Trojans come. And they do it without blinking. They have been in this position before. They expect to be in this position again. They feel entitled and they have every right to be.

Cal? The Bears made a game of it. They made the Trojans sweat, maybe even made it a bit problematical that USC will advance to play Ohio State for the national championship.

It wasn’t an impressive rollover, after all. But, still, daddy was in charge. Make no mistake about that. Daddy knows that. And so does Cal.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat

You Make the Call

2006-11-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

Who was the longtime coach of Notre Dame: Lou Holtz or Granny from the Beverly Hillibillies?
.

It's a trick question, they are both the same person. Thanks for playing.
.

Stop the Midget Tossing!

2006-11-21T15:12:00.000-08:00

This week, I call on the University of Notre Dame to end the despicable and tasteless practice of midget tossing. It's a shame that in this day and age People of Small Stature are subjected to such abuse. Is there no decency left?

Look at the poor little fella, he's scared out of his mind.

Beat the Drunken Irish!!!

2006-11-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

That's right, it's the Notre Dame Streak Week. Four, and soon to be five. Here's a few of my favorite Irish jokes:

What is an Irish seven-course meal? A six-pack and a potato.

"Stop, the Potato Famine is over," said to Notre Dame fans leaving the Coliseum early during the third straight Irish loss to USC by 31 points.

Fans

2006-11-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

Since Cal is over and done with, I should move on to Notre Dame. But the tired, old Kal dirty hippies/commies thing is just too enjoyable for me. So I submit a comparison of the two fanbases:

Kal Fans
vs. USC Fans
I think the choice is clear.

Big Hit on Kal's DeSean Jackson

2006-11-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Mr. Kevin Ellison for putting ME-Sean in his place. The hit set the tone for the entire game, and if Kevin Ellison wasn't already a locker room favorite among the Trojan players, he is now.

A Win against Berkeley is a Win for America!

2006-11-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

Thank God, as He was on our side in dispatching the unwashed masses, the godless heathens back to Communist Northern Kalifornia. Yes, the Men of Troy were victorious over the Peoples Democratic Republik University of Kalifornia, 23-9, shattering the hopes and dreams that Kal students had of going to the Rose Bowl for the first time since their grandfathers were young men. Rumor has it that numerous dirty hippies journeyed to Pasadena after the game to view the Rose Bowl in person and reflect on all that was lost on Saturday.

(Image courtesy of scmindstorm/ElephantAndCross and Sec13forSC)

USC: Everything Cal isn't but wishes it was

2006-11-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

Is this headline from the Contra Costa Times awesome or what?

Here is the article:

GARY PETERSON: TIMES COLUMNIST

It's a quiet Sunday morning on the USC campus, and all is well at this academic oasis in South Central Los Angeles.

It's just hours after the football team's big win over Oregon, and just hours before it will bound from seventh to fourth in the national rankings. Soon the oasis will shake itself awake, and thoughts will turn to the California Golden Bears. But for now, life here is just as the locals like it:

The buzz from another loud football Saturday night still ringing in their ears, another righteous victory coming 'round the bend, another season to remember in the making.

It's tradition. It's an entitlement. It's a birthright. And people hate USC for it. Especially people from Berkeley.

"I had grown up in Northern California, just being a football nut the whole time," USC football coach Pete Carroll said barely 48 hours after sleepy Sunday, "knowing about the Rose Bowl and how grand it always was, with 'SC being synonymous with the Rose Bowl. When I got a chance to coach here, it just kind of all came together. This is really an extraordinary place to be, with the opportunity to represent the history and the tradition of the program."

You can wish an outbreak of blue hair for the fair-haired Carroll. You can mock his supercilious sideline demeanor. But you can't dispute his contention, because Carroll has friends in low places. And by low, we mean the cardinal-and-gold carpeted lobby of Heritage Hall, USC's athletic administration building.

On a sleepy Sunday morning, Heritage Hall is a remarkable place to be. It's just you and the ghosts. See there, the first thing you notice upon pushing through the glass doors? It's a half-dozen Heisman Trophies arranged in a flying wedge. At the wedge's point is a trophy bearing a full-sized crystal football -- one of three doo-dads under plexiglass commemorating the 2004 national championship.

It has to be the largest collection of Heismans in captivity. The winners, from left to right: Reggie Bush, O.J. Simpson ("If I had won the Heisman, here's how it would have happened"), Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Charles White and Marcus Allen. USC has such a surplus of tradition that the Heisman won by current athletic director Mike Garrett isn't even missed. It's probably in his office; or maybe at a day spa having its fingernails buffed.

Five of the seven Heisman-winning jerseys are on display. As is Chris Claiborne's 1998 Butkus Award. As is the bust of coach Elmer (Gloomy Gus) Henderson, the man who took the Trojans to their first Rose Bowl. As is the bust of coach John McKay, who birthed the birthright by leading 'SC to its first four national titles, who fathered Student Body Right, who recruited Simpson and then had him carry the football 30 times a game because, "Why not? It doesn't weigh much."

Within a quip's throw of McKay's bust is one of John Wayne, "student and scholarship athlete," according to the plaque.

John Wayne, for crying out loud.

The run-up to Saturday evening's Cal-USC game is worthy of the heat and light it has generated across the week. To the winner goes the Rose Bowl -- or, in the case of USC, an outside shot at something better. But there is more to it than can be decided in one night. Saturday's game is more than a game. It is a class conflict, pitting an imperial "have" against an envious "have not."

The emotional current has a distinct north-to-south flow. It's not that Carroll's Trojan army doesn't respect Cal. It's just that USC's attentions are historically divided between a number of white-hot rivals -- Notre Dame, UCLA, Cal, whichever aspiring king slayer happens to be across the line of scrimmage on a given Saturday.

Whereas when it comes to Cal's Top 10 list of schools to loathe, Stanford is No. 1 (holding down an honorary position), with USC occupying spots 2 through 11.

The disdain is purely football driven. Cal can hang with USC in almost every manner imaginable -- the value of a degree; the notable alumni (John Wayne notwithstanding); the urban campus; the band; the old, gray grand dame of a football stadium (Cal's more scenically located, USC's still bearing the mint and mauve signature of the 1984 Summer Olympics).

And while Cal can take pride in its Hall of Fame room built into the undercarriage of Memorial Stadium, there simply is no competing with the lobby in Heritage Hall. The Heismans (seven to Cal's none). The national championships (seven to Cal's none). The Rose Bowls (18 appearances since Cal's most recent; 17 victories since Cal's most recent). The 430 NFL draft picks produced. The legend. The lore.

It's tough to say what annoys Cal fans more -- that USC boasts that kind of psychic bounty, or that their school doesn't.

"I loved the class of the program as a teenager growing up," Carroll said. "Once you get here, you realize there truly is a Trojan family and a legacy that we live with. It helps with our recruiting. People can sense it when they're here. It's real and it's very, very powerful."

Fans of Cal football want that feeling. They want to experience that power. They would like to know what Pasadena smells like on New Year's Day. They know the dynamics of the Cal-USC relationship cannot be reversed in three short hours. But a win Saturday night would send them to a place they haven't been for decades.

A word of warning: The ghosts have called another meeting for the lobby of Heritage Hall on Sunday morning. The plan is to silently celebrate another righteous victory. It's what they do. And until further notice, it's who they are.

Contact Gary Peterson at gpeterson@cctimes.com.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/16035891.htm

Beauty

2006-11-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

The Wife watches The Official Crappiest Reality Show Ever, which of course is titled "America's Next Top Model".

Since she watches it, that means that I too watch it. It's either that, or shun The Wife like she was the Black Plague.

Last week, the show's "judges", for lack of a better word, voted off the only good looking chick on the whole show. And when I say only, I mean ONLY. Those contestants are either plain, or just plain ugly. Yet, top models are supposed to be the embodiment of beauty and a standard that women should strive for. So it begs the question: Why do we allow a small bunch of bitter women and gay men to decide what female beauty is? Their judgment is so out of whack that ugly women with the non-curvy bodies typically found on 13-year-old boys are what wins out on a show like this.

Say what you want about the internet (big fake tits aside), there are plenty of women making a living as online models only who are more representative of what men find as beautiful females. They range from slim to fat, tall to short, dark to light. But one thing they have in common is that they barely resemble the ugly, curveless, walking skeletons that the fashion industry has been parading around for the last few decades.

So I missed last week's game

2006-11-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

I was on campus for the Oregon game with The Wife and 4-year-old daughter. We arrived round 10am and tailgated with friends for around 9 hours before the 7pm start time. My daughter refused to take a nap during the day, and as a result she threw a temper tantrum. So we drove home and I watched the rest of the game on TV. The Wife did her best to make it up to me.

Sadly, this may be the last game we take our daughter to for awhile. It was her first game this year because she is getting big, and the ticket office would not let us buy another seat. She has attended 10+ games going back to the 2003 Orange Bowl win over Iowa when she was just 8 1/2 months old.

I told The Wife that if we take our daughter to another game this year, that we will have to drug her with Benadryl to ensure that she takes a nap before the game. The Wife did not disagree.

Beat the Zeros!

2006-11-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

Why do we call the Ducks the Zeros? Because some idiot decided to change the logo on the helmut from the letter "O" to the number "0". And frankly their play has lived up to it.
Don't even get me started on their Robo-Duck gay mascot. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Election Day Question

2006-11-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

Is being an "uniformed voter" all that different than those who only vote Republican or Democrat regardless of the issues or the candidates?

Random Thought of the Day

2006-11-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

It might be cool to be the Invisible Man, but it would absolutely suck to be the Invisible Man and be disabled. Think about it. I was in my office's bathroom using the sink with the disabled sign on it (I like the handles better), and thought to myself that if there really was someone who was disabled in the bathroom, then I would be courteous and move over to another sink. Of course, if he was invisible and wanted to retain his invisible identity, then he would just to have to wait.

While laws like the ADA are meant to give back independence to the disabled, the disabled still rely on us to be courteous and to help them, or at least not get in their way. But often times the disabled are treated like they are invisible.

O, How I Hate Stanfraud, Let Me Count The Ways

2006-11-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

... For hijacking someone else's reputation. Why don't you just try being the Stanford of the West?

For the false elitism displayed by Stanford people based on a fraudulent reputation.

Grade inflation. Does everyone graduate with a 4.0 GPA?

For proposing that freshman classes only give out Pass/No Pass marks instead of grades, just so that freshmen don't ruin their GPA.

"The hardest thing about Stanford is getting in." - quote from a former student.

"I dropped a class, without a mark on my transcript, after finding out what I received on my Final Exam." - also a quote from a former student.

No academic credibility. (See quotes above)

For changing its nickname from the Indians to the Cardinal.

Cardinal does not refer to a bird, or any other object for that matter. It is a color. How pansy is that? Way to go out of your way to not be offensive.

The stupid dancing tree. If dancing is what you call that.

For having a band that has just as fraudulent a reputation as the university itself. The Stanford band has not been funny, or even creative, for a decade.

And when they used to be creative, they would do things like forming the shape of a penis, play 70's-style porno music, and proceed to make love to the stadium tunnel. That's just disgusting.

For sucking at football since Pop Warner left.

For racking up NCAA championships in every possible little known sport. And bragging about it.

If underwater basket weaving was a NCAA-sanctioned sport, Stanford would recruit scholarship "athletes" for it.

For being elitist in football without ever being in the Football Elite. Pop Warner notwithstanding.

The embodiment of Stanfraud football elitism is John Elway and Bill Walsh. I still can't stand those guys, although everybody softened on the John "Mr. Ed"way remarks when he got old and decrepit and had already lost 3 SuperBowls.

Probably the most annoying Stanford coach though was John Ralston. Although he was a miserable 2-8 lifetime against USC, after every loss you count on him to put down USC Football, its players, the school, the students, and the alumni.

After one such post-loss tirade by Ralston, legendary USC coach John McKay was asked to comment on Ralston's vitriolic and elitist comments. McKay replied, "I don't trade hee-haws with a Jackass."

McKay's hatred of Stanfraud ran deep, and deservedly so. He was once quoted as saying that he wanted to beat Stanford 100-0. The next year before the game, the Stanford student newspaper ran a cartoon depicting John McKay looking at the scoreboard, which read USC -92 Stanford-0, with McKay saying, "If we score, we're going for 2!"

The only good thing about Stanfraud is that this away game allows myself and many fellow USC fans to take a nice trip up to the Bay Area, before watching their pathetic excuse for a football team be beaten into submission. Good times, baby, good times.

P.S. Credit goes to scmindstorm/ElephantAndCross for coining the term "Stanfraud".

Abandonment Issues

2006-11-02T14:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've abandoned you for a month and a half. In that time much has happened. I may recap things later, but for now I am looking forward to this weekend's game against Stanfraud.

No Longer the Media's Darling

2006-09-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

The AP Poll has not been kind to USC this season. The pre-season AP Poll, USC was ranked #6, which contrasted with the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll which had USC #3. Often there is a disparity between the two polls, but rarely does it involve 3 places. After USC's impressive 50-14 victor of Arkansas on the road, the AP Poll made up the inequity by voting USC #3, and USC's position in the Coaches Poll remained unchanged. During this bye week for USC, Notre Dame and Auburn had good, not great, wins over Penn State and Miss. St respectively. I say "not great" because Miss. St is never, ever, never expected to win their conference. On the other hand, Penn State was expected to be pretty good coming off a #4 finish last year, but quite frankly they looked and played horrible against Notre Dame. Notre Dame would like to take all the credit for this one, and the truth has never stopped ND's shameless self-promotion before, but Penn St is on its way to a few more losses in what will be called a disappointing season.

Back on subject: Usually a team does not lose their place in the Polls during a bye week, but can move up if a team ranked above it loses. Such was the case Saturday when #1 Ohio St beat up #2 Texas in Austin. Texas is not a national championship contender and was dropped to #8 in the Polls after the loss. It appears Texas was only ranked #2 in the first place because some voters feel the defending national champion should be ranked #1 until they lose. That is a notion that I personally reject.

Back on subject again: Not only did USC fail to move up in the Associated Press Poll, we lost a place while not one but TWO teams leapfrogged us, Notre Dame and Auburn. USC's #4 ranking in the AP Poll is contrasted by the #2 ranking in the Coaches Poll which followed conventional wisdom and moved USC up one place when Texas lost.

Therefore, USC's media darling status has been revoked.

CFB Fans can be a Bunch of Assclowns

2006-08-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

Every year it is the same, flamers and trolls from opposing schools flock to the USC message boards to spread their own peculiar brand of stupidity. Now we know what they eat for Breakfast.

Wheaties is the Breakfast of Champions. AssClown is the Breakfast of LSU, Oklahoma and Texas fans.

Even More Pictures

2006-07-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

Just in case ...

More USC Pictures

2006-07-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Just in case someone somewhere needs them.

Inmates are Running the Asylum at Tennesee

2006-07-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

There are several very funny commercials out for EA Sports "NFL Head Coach" game. Two of which show the MORON WHO DRAFTED VINCE YOUNG OVER MATT LEINART. He can clearly be seen standing to the left of Tennessee Titans Head Coach Jeff Fisher.

The two commercials can be seen Here and Here.

USC Pictures

2006-06-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

When a Good Job Goes Bad - Part Deux

2006-06-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

So my attempt to live life carefree lasted about 3 1/2 days before hitting a brick wall this afternoon. I went over my future job responsibilities this afternoon with my fellow co-worker (I am adding his shit job to my current crap job responsibilities) and all I can say is: Wow! This is some real mindless shit! A robot could do this pointless paper-pushing job.

For the last year, my job has put my career aspirations on hold, because my current responsibilities are in no way any type of experience that the rest of my department (or my industry for that matter) values for promotions. But my real complaint is that this shit is robbing me of my motivation, of my creativity and of my imagination. Smoking weed would do me more good than working here. I would still lose the motivation factor, but my creativity and imagination probably increase.

More on this later.

Salt, Meet My Open Wound

2006-06-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

It's bad enough to lose the most important game of the year by only 3 points, but to know that 2 HUGE plays were incorrectly called on the field only adds to the pain. Kudos to USC Head Coach Pete Carroll for not raising a stink about the officiating. However, for us fans it's a long offseason and this is a topic that cannot be ignored.

Refs' fumbles cost Trojans

REPLAY: Two key plays that didn't get reviewed may lead to a challenge for coaches next season.

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, May 13, 2006

By DAN WEBER
The Press-Enterprise

College football officiating supervisors admitted last week that the replay and on-field officials were wrong on two key plays that went against USC in the Trojans' 41-38 loss to Texas in the Rose Bowl in January.

Reuters

Supervisors of officiating for the NCAA and Pac-10 called two second-quarter laterals, including this one by USC's Reggie Bush that was ruled a fumble, bad calls that should have been reviewed and overturned. Texas beat the Trojans, 41-38, in the title game.

The fallout won't change the result of that national championship game, but it could lead to changes in the replay rule before the end of the month.

Verle Sorgen, the Pac-10's coordinator of football officiating, said Reggie Bush's downfield lateral and Vince Young's pitch that led to a touchdown, both in the second quarter, were incorrectly called on the field.

Two plays, two laterals, two incorrect outcomes that gave Texas a TD and denied USC a chance for one, and also went without replay. In a three-point game decided with 19 seconds left, either could have been decisive.

In the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten Conference rules were in place, so a replay technical adviser monitored two TVs throughout the game with the power to stop the game at any time for a review.

"I don't know why the Bush lateral play has stayed under the radar the way it has," said Sorgen, a USC grad and Riverside native, from his Walnut Creek office. "The replay crew just missed stopping the game on that one. And no one on the field saw it."

Nor has anyone at USC complained about it.

"The last thing I'm going to do is spend any time worrying about something in the past that's over and done," USC coach Pete Carroll said Thursday.

What Sorgen said the officials should have seen was not a fumble, but an illegal forward pass as Bush tried to shovel the ball to unsuspecting wide receiver Brad Walker. Instead of Texas recovering the flubbed lateral at the 18, an illegal forward pass call would have penalized USC 5 yards, and the Trojans would have kept possession.

"That was an extraordinarily important play in the game, probably more than anything else that happened, the way it changed the momentum," Carroll said. "We'd have still had the ball with a first down on their 23. The penalty wouldn't have mattered at the end of a 37-yard play."

On the other play in question, Young scrambled for 10 yards to the USC 12 before pitching the ball to Selvin Young, who ran the final 12 yards for a touchdown and a 9-7 lead. Replays showed Vince Young's knee touched the ground before he pitched the ball.

One replay monitor caught the parts of the play that were legal, but the other malfunctioned and missed the knee-down lateral. By the time the crew realized what had happened, with ABC-TV replaying it to the nation, Texas was already lining up for the extra point.

Sorgen said there were three parts of the play that warranted review.

"Was it a forward lateral? No. Did the runner step out of bounds before the end zone? No. Was Young's knee down before the lateral? Yes. The ball should have been down at the 12-yard line," he said.

Dave Parry, the national coordinator of NCAA football officiating, and Sorgen agreed in their interpretation.

"Oh, it (his knee) was down," Parry told CBS SportsLine.com. "I went in at halftime to say, 'What went wrong?' "

By then it was too late to do anything.

That's why the NCAA football rules committee has unanimously recommended a change to the replay rule for all televised games next season that would allow each coach one challenge to stop the game and have a play reviewed, much like the NFL permits. If the coach were right, he wouldn't be charged a timeout or a challenge. If not, he loses his challenge and a timeout.

Carroll, who has consistently opposed instant replay since leaving the NFL for USC, might have had a chance to use it twice if that rule had been in place for the Rose Bowl.

"I might have," Carroll said, "although the replay of the Bush lateral was more obvious on TV than it was to us down on the field. It probably would have come down to what the guys in the booth had seen."

Sorgen said, "All five replays they did review, they got right, in my opinion. But they missed on the two they didn't do."

That's why the rules committee, if it has its way, will get approval for replay challenges from the rules oversight group at its meeting May 30. So while many USC fans haven't been able to bring themselves to watch the replay of the Rose Bowl, almost 4 ½ months after the game, they can at least take comfort in the fact that those plays that didn't get seen on replay by officials may help change the rules.

Sorgen said that if the officiating and replay system were up to par, the new appeals wouldn't change much.

"In the Mountain West Conference last year, the only one that allowed coaches' appeals, only five out of 35 were upheld," Sorgen said. Reach Dan Weber at dweber@PE.com

Online at: http://www.pe.com/sports/college/usc/stories/PE_Sports_Local_S_usc_replay_14.8f1fdff.html

New Outlook on Life

2006-05-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

.
.

I have a whole new attitude, and I have the movie "Super Troopers" to thank for it. Yeah, I've seen it before, but for some reason it resonated with me this weekend. So I decided:

Why not go through life without taking things seriously?

It sounds like a plan to me. Besides, I'm funnier when not depressed.

Having Another Child

2006-05-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

In October, my wife decided that we needed to conceive our second child because it was already too large of a gap between our 3 1/2-year-old daughter and child #2. I don't necessarily agree that kids have to be spaced a certain way, but I gave into my wife's wishes. Partly because she wanted to have lots and lots of sex.

A week or two later my father died.

His death really hit me hard. In some strange way we thought his spirit would live on if my wife was pregnant with a boy. This thinking helped with the grieving process. Then my wife miscarried in December.

Life was tough in the following months. However, my wife was insistent upon getting pregnant again. And in reality, it is probably best that it has not happened. Our lives have been chaotic for 4 years, mainly due to our first child being a complete surprise. Recent famliy tragedies have only added to it.

When A Good Job Goes Bad

2006-05-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

I hate my job.

Now I hate it more.

Yesterday I learned that I would basically be required to do two people's work. I am not thrilled about this. Previously, my job duties sucked ass, but on the bright side there was little required of me.

The thing is, relatively speaking, I have a good job. It is stable, it is professional, I get paid well, it has good benefits, and there is a good retirement plan. However, my job duties have gotten consistently worse over the last year and a half.

My department has a forced transfer policy. They forcibly transfer people because there are crap jobs in the department that no one wants, and there are problem employees around whom their bosses are dying to transfer because they don't have the balls to fire them. So I was transferred to one of those crap jobs. Even worse, the crap job is beneath me. My department could save alot of money by having a less skilled and lower paid worker in this position. But they don't. And I am stuck here. And I am afraid that my discontent is turning me into one of those problem employees.

I used to get angry about it. Co-workers tell me it's not worth worrying about, to just work your required hours for the day and go home. But I can't follow their advice because it just sounds like they have given up. Also, I'm stubborn. And maybe a little stupid. Sometimes I feel beat down. But I have not accepted defeat. I am using my sick days pretty liberally though.

More on this later.